BOSTON -- A new name, a little fine-tuning of the content and a few improved incentives yielded some positive results at the second "NACMA Presents" seminar for small-college administrators.

The program, known last year as "NACMA On the Road," attracted about 50 administrators from Divisions II and III institutions and conferences -- along with representatives from NAIA and Canadian institutions -- to an April 20-21 session at Boston's Colonnade Hotel.

The attendance more than doubled that of the inaugural event.

"The first year really was a learning tool," said Trip Durham, director of marketing at the University of Virginia. "Now we have found a formula that works well."

The most important change involved program content. All of the presenters had at least some experience at smaller institutions. Special efforts were made to make the instruction more practical.

"The biggest difference this year was in the responsiveness of the participants," said Cliff Dochterman, associate athletics director at the University of California, Riverside, and NACMA associate vice-president. "There's a real thirst for this sort of information out there."

That "thirst" was reflected through participants who came from as far away as Ohio, West Virginia, Oregon and the Canadian province of Alberta.

There were eight presentations ranging from "Using Your Students, Faculty and Staff" to "Brilliant Ideas That You Can Steal from the Pros."

Durham, a former NACMA officer, noted that only one individual registered for this year's event failed to show. He attributed the high attendance rate to incentives that included rebates, NACMA memberships and hotel discounts for those who showed up.

The event also expanded its scope, this time including non-Division II institutions after having been inaugurated last year as strictly a Division II function. This year, more than 40 percent of the participants were from Division II. The remainder was divided equally among Division III and non-NCAA institutions.

"It was good that we could knock down our divisional barriers for a couple of days and just spend time discussing ideas that work," said Division II Vice-President Mike Racy.

Dochterman agreed, noting that the program succeeded because it was practical.

"You have to provide these administrators with ideas that they can actually use," he said. "This kind of program can have all sorts of great ideas, but if they cost a lot of money to implement, these people will tune it out because they know it won't work at their school."

Instead, the emphasis was on making the most of what resources are available, a theme that was capsulized in Durham's session ("Know Your Challenges and Recognize Your Assets").

Besides Dochterman and Durham, other presenters were Kara Ansotegui, assistant director for development stewardship at Georgia Institute of Technology; Chad Hartman, director of sports marketing at High Point University; Alex Ogeka, director of development of athletics at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania; Jim Seavey, associate athletics director at Stonehill College; Dan Gavitt, director of athletics at Bryant College; Cindy Scott, associate athletics director at Bentley College; and John Goode of the Lowell Spinners minor-league baseball team.

The Northeast-10 Conference co-sponsored the event.